Page 124 of Poison and Wine
“With all due respect, Mrs. Kavanaugh, you’re not my boss.”
Red criss-crossed my vision at his response. “Take me to his office now,” I bit out.
Owen ran his hand over his face. “I can’t do that.”
“Why ever not?”
“Because he isn’t there.”
“Then where is he?”
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
With a frustrated grunt, I lifted my phone and pulled up the tracking app that Gianni secretly had installed at the reception. Initially, I hadn’t wanted him to do it, but Gianni had insisted. Since I didn’t even begin to understand the technology behind it, I’d never used it. But like most things in life, there was a first time for everything.
When I read Callum’s location, I froze at the description. “He’s at a strip club?” I choked out.
“It’s not like that, ma’am. The Kavanaugh brothers own the club.”
I jerked my gaze to Owen’s. “My husband is part owner of a strip club and never told me?”
“Aye, but it’s a Gentleman’s Club,” Owen corrected.
“Fuck the semantics, and fuck you!” I spat to which Owen’s eyes popped wide. I couldn’t blame him for being shocked at my outburst, but at the same time, I don’t know how he expected me to act at the news.
“Please get in the car, Mrs. Kavanaugh.”
Ignoring him, I began pacing around the pavement. Bile rose in my throat, which either came from the pregnancy or my overall disgust at my husband. The husband who currently refused my texts not because he was tied up in an important meeting, but because he was at a strip club. Worse than that, he owned a strip club and had never told me. He knew how I felt about honesty, and he had trampled all over it.
Owen’s hand grazed my arm. “Please just let me take you home, ma’am. I’ll send him an SOS text, and he’ll come right away.”
Rage and anguish seethed within me. One thing I was sure of. There was no way in hell I was waiting to confront Callum. “You won’t take me to the club, will you?”
Owen’s eyes bulged in horror. “No, ma’am.”
“Fine.” As I started to hop into the car, I slipped my hand into Owen’s jacket. Before he could react, I snatched one of the guns from his holster. I shoved him away before releasing the safety and aiming it at him. “You will take me to the club,” I ordered.
Both disbelief and anger flickered across his face. “Do you really expect me to take you as a threat?”
“Considering I’m manic with pregnancy hormones at the moment coupled with the white-hot rage I feel towards my husband, I sure as hell would. But by all means, you can fuck around and find out.”
Owen regarded me like I’d grown another head. “Mrs. Kavanaugh, please reconsider.”
“Drive the fucking car, Owen,” I commanded.
With a resigned sigh, he ducked his head. “Fine. But you should take the fall when Callum goes ballistic.”
“If I haven’t managed to kill him, I’ll make sure to spare you,” I spat.
Chapter Thirty-Five: Callum
As I walked through the back door of Álainn, meaning beautiful in Irish, which was our upscale family owned strip club, a beefy bouncer nodded his head at me. “Good afternoon, Mr. Kavanaugh.”
“Good afternoon, Niall.”
Like most of our business, we hired within the clans. There were a few non-clan with us, but they were usually hired as cooks or cleaners. When it came to our dancers, we didn’t like hiring any of the girls with clan affiliation because it just made for bad blood among the men.
Of course, since marrying Caterina, I’d spent as little time as possible in Álainn. Instead, I deferred to Quinn and Dare for all things women and alcohol related while Kellan kept track of the books.